My extravagant present-buying was just a lie. Now I’m being honest with my family – and the payday lenders

Last Christmas I wanted to give it my heart. I really was adamant I would make it special, try to keep smiling and show everyone around me how much they meant to me.

I struggled a lot, throughout the year, but I had been keeping endless secrets, borrowing money and trying to help my family when they were stuck for cash, despite finding it hard to sort out my own bills. I then tried to hide it all by buying even larger presents for people than was realistically affordable.

Related: Life in debt: ‘The council was more aggressive than the payday lenders’